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  He plucked a flower from the dirt and ate it, before coming home to hug his older sister.

  Li, who was eagerly waiting at the door, immediately dives in with tears streaming down her cheeks.

  "You're reawwy... Sob... Gonna go in there?"

  His sister, despite being his only mother figure; was a fragile soul who can be wimpy at time.

  "It's okay. I will be home before dinner."

  He kissed Li on the hair, a scent of daisy rushed up his nose. The young man's noses swelled up when he was moved by the nostalgia, as if this was their first embrace.

  "What do you... gulp want for dinner, An?" Li asked him as he was putting his shoes on.

  "Your signature, congee."

  It was a bright noon when An made his way towards the obelisk in his country. The giant thing pierced through the clouds and atmosphere, too high for a helicopter to safely see the top, yet too low for a spaceship.

  An walked inside through mysterious glowing door and was transported to what seems like a different dimension. A vast stretch of green hills and trees, a beautiful and serene pce, nothing his world would ever see in the 21st century.

  "You're... te, on your first day, but it's- it's... uh okay. My name's Tam, I'm your assigned partner that the Lieutenant, um, set up-"

  Waiting for him was a, who can't be older than 20 years old, and he's another wimp who immediately shuts down from critique after seeing that An started eyeing him.

  "Lets get to killing wolves." An sighed, having no other choice, considering he's a newbie to the Tower and can only go in pairs with other newbies.

  [Tower of Apocolypse]First Floor: PinsDiscovered Enemies:+ Grey Wolf+ Mountain Wolf

  They made their way on top of a hill for a better view, and a few steps away they saw a man fighting a Grey Wolf with a reverse gripped dagger.

  "Is that... Him?" Tam muttered

  "Who?" An asked

  "H-He's also Vietnamese, but recently joined forces with a private India guild..."

  An and Tam stood and watch as the tall man with wide shoulders stood in a defensive stance, slightly hunching forward with both hands in front of his jaw covering the neck.

  The wolf growled like the wild animal it meant to be, like the prey it didn't know it was destined to.

  It ran towards the man, one feet after another and two others. Ultimately going for a pounce, aiming to nd its feet on his chest while the beast's mouth opened wide for his face and neck; the instinctual hunting technique of such carnivore. But this grey wolf didn't know that for the st millions of years, mankind has dominated, because of their ability to grab and use tools, such as a dagger made of silver.

  The man didn't move an inch, instead he aimed the dagger on his right hand pointed upwards, and pierced the thing on its pouncing path, from the soft tissue underneath the chin; through the eyeballs and skull.

  'He's experienced.' An thought, knowing that even the physically strong may have a weak heart, especially those who never encountered danger before.

  The two of them, An and Tam watched in great curiousity, as the wolf continued to struggle without even making any sound of pain or agonizement. It instead started to wave four feet around wildly, with a giant hole through the cranium and brain, it still trying its hardest to grab ahold of the man's throat, a struggle of strength came.

  "What's his name?" An asked his partner, who was shivering for some reason.

  "M-Mountain..."

  "I mean his actual name."

  "I- I don't know..."

  Mountain proceeded to sm the animal down, using the knife as like a skewer, he pinned the wolf to the ground and started punching it in the face.

  With a satisfied smile filled with bloodlust, he punched it once, then twice, three times... four... twenty-three.

  The canine was now wimping in pain.

  Forty two, forty five...

  spsh

  Mountain frowned, as man interrupted him and stomped the wolf on the brain, killing it instantly, and by default, stealing the EXP.

  "Any st words, bastard?" Mountain looked up at An with killing intent, and a very big grin.

  "You were torturing it."

  "Yeah, and?"

  "I don't like i-"

  Before An could finish his sentence, Mountain stabbed him in the face.

  "WAAAA! Stop it!" Tam screamed from a distance, covering his eyes "We're all ??ng bào*, why are you guys doing this?"

  *A term between Vietnamese that roughly transted to "Same womb" referencing a mythical tale stating that everyone was born from the same fairy mother and dragon father.

  "Shhh"

  As Tam opened his eyes, he saw that An was kneeling down, to both pick up a random white flower from the grass below, and to dodge the high strike.

  The flower itself was really small, its size is only comparable to a random pebble that even an ant can lift, from where Tam was standing, he could barely make out the flower, but it's there.

  "How to defeat an [Assassin], with a flower." An whispered.

  The one true mistake that Tam made, that he deeply regretted, up until his death, was that he blinked.

  His mortal needs to keep his eyes lubricated disgusted him.

  Mountain was on the ground, with a flower on his face, and An stood on top of him.

  "W-What did you do?! How di... When... What do you mean by [Assassin]? Is that his css? How'd you know?!" Tam yelped in fear.

  "... Isn't it obvious?" An tilted his head, "He used the Assassin css unique skill, x2 SPD which is how he managed to stab the wolf precisely in the chin."

  "Obvious? What do you mean obvious! The obelisks just showed up 10 days ago and there are only like... I don't know, 5 confirmed and registered Assassin css... I only ever saw that one from Japan on Youtube."

  "I've seen hundreds... At least 90 of them would fell to the same technique."

  An started away, leaving an unconscious man lying still on the grass.

  "Tec-Technique?!" Tam followed suit

  An stayed silent for a second or two, not knowing if he should tell this wimp his card.

  "By throwing the flower towards an Assassin, he's forced to reconcentrate to look it, doubling his appropriate reaction time from 250ms to 500ms.

  "Throwing it at a twenty degrees angle right across his ear would force him to recalibrate his eyes, to move towards the flower, process it, then come back, process the intent to activate his skill, then process a cutting/stabbing arch with his dagger, because unexperienced people often feel the need to make a perfect cut. Netting me a 1.3 second window before he actually started to swing him arm, which will cause impact in 0.1 second with the doubled speed."

  "So I punched him in the jaw."

  "If he had activated x2 SPD on time and swing at me first, I'd die."

  Upon hearing the expnation, Tam was speechless, he stopped in his tracks and muttered,

  "Who... Are you?"

  An coldly stared at the young man, tucking his hands away in his pockets.

  "A nobody that needs to climb to the 100th floor, and some money on the way."